Biography
Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director of the renowned Pasadena Playhouse, conceived and directed the Duke Ellington musical, "Play On!", which received three Tony Award nominations and was produced at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, where it received four Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Musical. The Pasadena Playhouse production was taped by PBS for broadcast as part of the "Great Performances" series.
He also conceived and directed the highly acclaimed musical revue, "Blues in the Night". The Broadway production was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Musical of the Year, and the London production, which he also directed, was nominated for two Laurence Olivier Awards, and ran for over a year on the West End, before being broadcast in Europe by Thames Television.
Epps was a co-founder of the off-Broadway theater, The Production Company, where he staged the world premiere of "Scenes and Revelations", which he also directed on Broadway at the Circle In The Square Theatre. Epps has directed plays and musicals for many of the country's major theaters including the Guthrie, the Old Globe Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Crossroads Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Arizona Theatre Company, and Coconut Grove Playhouse.
For television, he has directed episodes of Frasier (1993), Friends (1994), Everybody Loves Raymond (1996), Joey (2004), Out of Practice (2005), My Wife and Kids (2000), In-Laws (2002), Veronica's Closet (1997), What I Like About You (2002), Evening Shade (1990) and Sister, Sister (1994) and several pilots, among others. For five seasons, he was also producer/director for the hit series, Girlfriends (2000).
He is currently a member of the Executive Board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Epps is a two-time recipient of the Theatre Communications Group/Pew Charitable Trust National Theatre Artists Residency Grant, which supported his four-year tenure at the Old Globe Theatre as Associate Artistic Director.
He was pleased to join the Pasadena Playhouse as Artistic Director in 1997. His directing credits at the Playhouse include "As Bees In Honey Drown", "Blue", "Play On!", "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", "The Importance of Being Earnest", "The Old Settler", "The Real Thing", "On Borrowed Time", "Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting", "Blues in the Night" and "Purlie", a co-production with the Goodman Theatre.
He directed the world premiere of "Blue" at Arena Stage Theatre, which was also produced off-Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre. Following its record- breaking production at the Pasadena Playhouse, "Blue" began a six-month long national tour.
